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Chepstow Stampede 10k (Obstacle Mud Run) and foodie fun

I’ve never done a proper obstacle mud race before and honestly I was fairly nervous. I had signed up to run the Chepstow Stampede 10k with my friends, Kate and Jamie, a while ago and now it was suddenly here.

I drove to Bristol to stay with them on Friday night. Because I’m such an intelligent savvy pro at life (*cough*) I winged it with their address in my sat nav with what I thought it was and then found out later I was actually going to the wrong place. In all fairness I was very close with the address; it was in Bristol at least. I haven’t driven to their house in the dark before is my excuse… It just set me back 15 minutes, whoops. Lesson learnt once again never to trust my own (questionable) intelligence in anything.

We had a delicious chicken salad for dinner. Who even are these friends anymore?? They would laugh at me for eating salad in America and now they’re completely converted! They’re like new people. And then we had an early night ready to get up the next morning to drive to Chepstow. We also picked up Kate’s friend, Katherine, en route who I’d met when we’d all done parkrun together a few times a few months ago.

Random guy in the right photo at the bib pick-up tent…

It was really fun going to the race and picking up our bibs because the three of them had never done a race before. What was a fairly normal and mundane process for me was new and exciting to Kate, Jamie and Katherine. They’d never had a bib number before, had the usual struggles and gripes about where to pin it and getting it straight… it was just really refreshing to go through the process with them (without sounding ridiculously patronising – we were all new to this once after all!).That said, I was actually really nervous about this race as it was something I’ve never really done before. I’ve done obstacle courses before but never an actual race. I was really glad it wasn’t raining, though it was very chilly. We’d agreed to run it as a team and help each other where needed. Right, let’s do this.The race started off on road at the Chepstow Racecourse and on a sharp downhill. The running for me was generally fairly easy as I’m a bit faster normally to the others but it was nice to run with them. We didn’t know what to expect in terms of obstacles but we did know at some point we’d be getting wet, so that weighed heavily on all our minds as the temperature was far from ideal.

The first obstacle was climbing over a wooden wall thing. It had very narrow ‘steps’ to use but it was really slippy. I ambitious threw myself at it and slipped almost immediately. More time and care required! It was quite high up but I just didn’t look down and got over it, literally. Kate was very cautious and nervous because she hates heights but she bossed it like a pro!

The first mile flew by. It was crazy how quickly it was going, despite having to wait a good few times for obstacles as there gets to be a bit of a build up while you wait for people. I don’t have a huge amount of obstacle racing experience but I think if you’re expecting to get really good times it will be hard because, from speaking to other people who’ve done similar races, you usually do have to wait a bit. But you can use that time to see (and judge!) other people’s strategies for getting over…and what not to do!

There were lots of obstacles in each mile, things like hay bales to climb over, tunnels to wriggle through, more walls to get over and tires to climb through – things like that basically. Nothing too difficult but also not easy per se, especially after you’ve been running. One of my favourites was climbing up a steep muddy wall using a rope. That was good fun. For each obstacle you didn’t have to do it and normally there was an easier option to choose from as well.

On the last mile there was the dreaded full body submerging into cold muddy water. There were a load of logs held above a stretch of water and you had to crawl under them, your head just above the water, to get through. It was FREEZING. But you just got in there and got it done. The more you think about it the worse it’ll be.

I got out the other side in shock of just how cold it was. It was that weird feeling that I knew I was cold but I hadn’t registered it yet as my body numb. It was only after we continued to run and the wind whipped at us that we really felt it. But we survived! We had to run up that bastard hill that we ran down at the start and crossed the finish line holding hands feeling like warriors.We did it in 1:44:33. We were aiming for sub 2 hours so that was perfect. Actually we think it would have been closer to 1.5 hours had we not had to wait so much (1.5 hours was our A Goal ;-)).It was such a fun race. It didn’t feel like any race I’ve done before. I certainly wouldn’t do it on my own – I think the appeal of these races are that you do them with friends and help each other, rather than try and get a speedy time. I didn’t care that I was running (and walking at times) a lot slower than I normally would. It was just such a fun experience.You weren’t just getting through the miles: you never knew what was coming round the corner, what massive hill would turn up next or crazy obstacle you’d have to get past. The race flew by! I fully recommend it – and for someone who hates being cold and wet, that is good praise indeed! I’m grateful it wasn’t raining though as the course had the potential to get very muddy so we weren’t quite as dirty as we could have been!

Just a few tips that I thought I’d share for an obstacle/mud run:

Don’t go with a time ambition.

Wear trail shoes that you don’t really care about.

Wear running clothes you’re not bothered about ruining but equally if you’re doing the race in colder temperatures, wear long sleeves and leggings but nothing that if it gets wet will really weigh you down.

Possibly wear gloves with grips – I found my hands got very cold and torn around a bit on the obstacles.

Bring a towel and a spare set of clothes.

Bring bin bags to either sit on in the car or put your clothes into afterwards.

Help anyone and everyone; there’s such a camaraderie feeling between everyone, whether you know them or not.

After we’d all had lovely hot showers we headed out for the real prize: FOOD. We went to Spitfire in Bristol which I’ve been to before. Katherine ordered a steak but the rest of us ordered the St. Louis ribs. When I ordered the waiter said, “This is usually shared between two people – it’s quite a lot of food” and Kate was like, “you don’t know Jamie and Anna”. We ordered some chicken wings to share as well. I won’t lie, our stomachs were doing the talking.We were all in heaven. The ribs were delicious. Up there with the best. The chicken wings were good too.Jamie and me had no issues polishing off our ribs, though we were defeated by the wings.

Despite being very full we decided to head to a gelato cafe for some pudding. Ooof. I decided to not go quite as decadent as I could have been and had three scoops: Mint Aero, Toffee Crisp and Malteaser. Delicious!

Then I needed a nap…but I had to drive home. It was a fantastic weekend of the best kind: running and food 😉

Well done! The camaraderie of it sound good, although I still think being cold and wet puts me off a bit too much. Some good tips though- especially the gloves- that is the kind of thing that I would not think about and then it would make me miserable having sore and cold hands.
I know what you mean about doing races with other people- quite a few people in my club are newer runners, so sometimes I have run with them and it’s lovely to be the person taking their mind off their nerves instead of worrying yourself. I also love racing with my dad as he doesn’t do races that often- when we have been out for dinner (or home for breakfast) after a shower we’ve both worn our medals.
I like mint ice cream, but I can’t mix it with many flavours (only chocolate)- often we share and if Andy had his way he would have mint, mango and something else- he doesn’t understand how to mix up the flavours properly! I tend to choose nutty ones, or fruity ones if it is hot as they are more refreshing.Maria @ runningcupcake recently posted…Tring parkrun in the mist

Huge kudos to you for trying this. I have zero desire to ever attempt anything like this, and in fact this is what my nightmares are made of! Sounds like you really embraced it and had a fun time.Elizabeth C. recently posted…Easing Back Into It

I was very worried to begin with I must say but it is good fun and doing something out of your comfort zone once in a while is always a good challenge!AnnaTheApple recently posted…Eye update and Halloween adventures

“Climbing up a steep muddy wall using a rope, full body submerging into cold muddy water, your hands got very cold and torn around a bit on the obstacles…” – just listen to these things I saw goosebumps. Challenging but also fascinating. I also want to participate in such a race. You should be proud of this.Kristin recently posted…Rectangle vs. Round Trampoline: Which one is best for you?

Wowh,
The mud race sounds cool. I haven’t tried it yet, but I think having a race with a group of friends is fantastic. We can encourage each other throughout the long race, then try some ice creams topped with chocolate, yeah..my favorite one.

Nice !!! I like having a mud race cause it would make me being a cool sporty girl haha 🙂 But the weather would be my worst obstacle 🙁 i hate running in cold weather 🙁
By the way, we may have same taste cause i love mint ice cream too :p